Our Little Blue Cottage

Before I had children, I felt God's calling to be a stay at home - homeschool mom. We were blessed to have lots of homeschool families in our church. So we were able to find out about homeschool and spent several years praying about it. I knew that it would be a huge financial sacrifice, but if that is what God's plan was for our family, then He would provide. Provide - He has. He is always faithful & supplies all our needs. We have never gone hungry or been without clothes and we've been able to pay our bills. Thank you Lord!

I remember telling God that I would be content in our little blue "cottage" for the rest of my life if that was what it would take to follow His will.

To be honest, some days it has been a challenge to keep that promise. With 3 children, homeschooling and a very busy husband, it feels like the walls are enclosing around me at times. I do get discourage from time to time. It's fascinating to see how God sends the encouragement. My children's sweet words, loving snuggles, and seeing their tender hearts. Today, I'm feeling the blessings.

The time has flown by & will continue to fly by. I'm so glad that I'm with them through out the day to see them grow physically, spiritually, emotionally & educationally.

Our cottage is filled with love and laughter. I will continue serving my Lord with a glad and happy spirit. Thank you Lord, for all Your many blessings, for loving me despite of my sins, for encouraging me when I am down. I love you, Lord.

Homeschool Talent Show

Our homeschool group had a talent show. We had 25 amazing performances. With 4 great MCs. The performances ranged from dance, piano, karate, recitation, singing, harmonica playing & a brass trio.

So proud of our group.

Will playing "Sonata" by memory. He did an amazing job.

Girl's Lunchen

Faith and I love having tea parties at home. Unfortunately, we don't have a tea house near us. We came across this sweet restaurant in the neighboring town. It's not quite a tea house, but it is close enough for us.

I gave Faith an invitation to the "Tea House". She carried it with her all morning showing the boys and Daddy.

It's in a beautiful yellow house. When we got out, Faith was Ohhhhing and Ahhhing. I wish I had a video of it.

The best part of the lunch ~ Faith.

We had a great lunch & so much fun making up stories, pretending to be Tinkerbell, a color, an animal, a car, etc.

The Art of Gardening

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson

The last time we planted a garden, I was expecting Faith. Since it is not my first love, it hasn't been my 1st priority. My planting hasn't been very successful in the past. Now that the kids are older, I am hoping that we will have more success & they will be in charge of it.

Usually, I'm not a sucker for packaging, but this one got to me - not the kids. We love Veggie Tales. I did, however only get one. How cute!

Faith preparing for the tilling.

My father-in-law so graciously came over to till the garden for us. After he soften the ground, Collin was able to till, till, till. He is such a hard worker.

Shopping at Lowe's for our supplies. The excitement was astounding.

This is what we planted. Just a little bit of everything. Notice the Giant Pumpkin. Collin picked this one out. The package says it will grow anywhere from 400-500 lbs. I think we will have The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, this year.

They were using a ruler to measure the depth and the distance.

The kids know that I am not very successful at growing, so they are making sure that this year, it will be just right.

Faith was soooo cute. Everytime she planted her seeds, she would blow them a kiss.

Drilling.

Tony & his dad - putting chicken wire around the garden in hopes of keeping our dog & any other animal out that may want to dine on our precious garden.

Homeschool Classes

Crochet

We just finished a free 2 month homeschool crochet class that our local library put on. We have really enjoyed it. Will has had to teach me a thing or two.

Will helping an adult friend of ours out.

Faith & Collin didn't really take to crocheting, but they had fun with friends at the class. Hopefully, they will down the road.

Will working hard.


4H Seedling

A 4H class. They learned about herbs & planting.

This class was for 6 & up, but they let Faith help plant. She loved it more than the older kids.

A Week of Sewing

Our local library had a homeschool crochet class. Will & I have really enjoyed learning. Will made a baby hat for our friend's little girl all by himself. (Pictures to come.) He is now teaching me how to do a hat. He made the bag above. He has far passed me.

The quilt above I made for my dear friend, Amy. They are missionaries to the Philippines. They will be leaving us a few months earlier because they are adopting a beautiful little girl. It's a little wild in color & pattern, but that's okay. I wanted to make a quilt for her, but at the time our money was very low. I prayed asking God to provide. I went through some clothes that Faith had outgrown & I was able to use them. My God shall supply all your needs. :)
One of the ladies at the shower said that Amy can wrap her little girl in Faith. (Faith's clothes) How precious.

The Very Hungry Caterpiller
I haven't had a baby shower in 2 years, then all of a sudden, 2 showers in one week. Whew! I had bought this material as soon as I found out that my life long friend was having a baby. My kids loved the caterpillar that we added. Below is the back of the quilt. I really enjoyed making both quilts. I covered both babies and families in prayer as I made both quilts. I am so excited for both families. A few more weeks & they will have beautiful girls to add to their already precious family.

Easter Celebrations

We experimented with different colored eggs. We wanted to see what brown eggs would look like dyed. Even though we enjoy eating brown eggs, the white eggs still give the best color. We had 3 white eggs which are the bright eggs. The kids got tired of the dark "earthy" colors, so they started painting them.

Hats or Baskets?

Saturday before Easter, we went to a local egg hunt in the area. Or as the kids called it "Egg Gathering".

Faith "gathering eggs". All 3 kids were divided into different areas. I could only get pictures of Faith.

Fortunately, we ran into 2 homeschool families that are in our support group. That made me feel a lot better about the kids having to split up. Each mom took a group.

Egg Hunt #2. This one was real ~ per my kids. One of the daddy's hid the eggs & they were hidden very well. They even had money in some of them. All but 3 eggs were found. And yes, one egg had money in them.

Collin finding an egg.

This is a egg tree at our local library. We have plans on making some crochet eggs for next year so we can have a tree.

Egg Hunt #3. With family & friends.

Last year, we found blue eggs in the bird house that the boys made. This year, we found a mama bird nesting on her eggs. What a special Easter treat.
Easter afternoon, we did the Resurrection Eggs. What a great way to tell the Easter story. We have enjoyed this tradition for many years.

Easter

We had a wonderful 2 days worshiping our Lord's resurrection. Saturday night, we had a Sonrise service. Then Sunday, we had a great sermon on the resurrection. Sunday afternoon, we did the resurrection eggs. The kids really enjoy it & seem to grasp the true meaning of Easter.

Traditional Easter Pictures.

Tony was playing the trumpet at another church on Easter Sunday. One day, maybe he'll be able to celebrate the Resurrection with us. We are so thankful that God has given him such a wonderful talent.